


Come (and make me feel)

by kmn



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Anxiety, Drama, Implied Relationships, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, M/M, Past Relationship(s), Pining, References to Drugs, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-02
Updated: 2017-07-09
Packaged: 2018-11-22 06:09:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11374176
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kmn/pseuds/kmn
Summary: Changkyun finds a camera with photos of an untold story.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This is my first time writing for this fandom. 
> 
> There will be more pairings to follow as the story unfolds (but changki is the main one). Let's pray I can continue this, haha. 
> 
> This story is pretty experimental and more of a writing exercise (because I suck!)
> 
> I hope I can update this soon, writing anything above 1k is a challenge to me to be completely honest.
> 
> Enjoy!

There were many things Changkyun didn't agree with, and one of them was stealing.

He didn’t steal per se he just picked up a camera from the audiovisual room in his department. As long as Changkyun returns it, it wasn't considered stealing, _technically_.

A few moments ago, Changkyun walked into the storage closet and found a vintage looking camera sitting between boxes on a shelf, light equipment and DSLRs placed hazardously around it. The camera stood out like an unorganized book at a library since the department only carried DSLRs. Perhaps somebody left the camera there by accident. Either way it was not his business, but honestly speaking, he was really intrigued by it. 

His curious fingers inspected the camera looking for a name, a tag, anything that showed who it belonged to. Turning it around, he found a small label sticker on the side of the camera with the words, "If you are not the owner, turn it on” nicely written in dark marker ink. That perked his curiosity even more, upon much consideration Changkyun tucks the camera carefully inside his backpack to see the pictures later. He would come back to return it.

Eventually.

 

* * *

 

The drive home from campus is a short 15 minutes' drive on a good day, except today was not one of them. Moving in this traffic felt like he was running on sand, painfully slow. The weather does nothing to improve his mood either, the heat crawling in the air making him sweat. Maybe today was not his lucky day (not that he had many.)

The intrigue of the mysterious camera pulls Changkyun's attention every now and then, curiosity evident in his face. He wanted to know what secrets it held.

"Why would someone leave their personal camera in the storage closet though." He wondered out loud. 

After pulling out of the highway, he drives to the building of his shared apartment and parks his car on the driveway. Changkyun takes his belongings out of the back seat and walks to the door to step out of his shoes. His socked feet scurry to the small living room, excited to see what's inside the camera. The urgency is evident in the way his hands quickly take the camera out of the bag and place it on his lap. Changkyun considers the mystery behind the camera to add a little spark to his rather dull life.

(Truthfully, Changkyun’s life was not eventful at all, the last time he did something adventurous was dying his hair a lighter color by himself. It was decent, to say the least.)

He turns the camera on, curious eyes already on the screen. A picture of a red post-it with text appears. 

 _If you are reading this it’s because I lost my camera_  
_-KH  xxx-xxx-xxxx_

The label makes sense now. However, the message is vague, devoid of urgency to be returned. His eyes fall on the numbers next to the initials a second too long.

Changkyun takes a long breath, curiosity eating at him, and presses the “next” button. A photo of a yellow carnation inside a tall glass vase shows up, the light filtering through the curtains in a morning haze. The next one was a close up of small violet petals of a hyacinth flower spread across white bed sheets. Yellow roses appeared next, floating aimlessly on a tub. He browsed through the backlog, all pictures showing different flowers in different arrangements. The last flower he sees is a red cyclamen, its shadows contrasting on the white background. It looked simple yet moving.

Changkyun tries to make sense of the order and the meaning, making a mental note to look for the definition of each flower later. His brain over analyzing every picture after reading that note. When he lands on the last one _—_ the first one in the backlog _—_ the screen shows a picture of a handwritten letter, torn in pieces and scattered inside a box with what looked to be gifts. A few dried rose petals, small toys, and pink envelopes mixed with the letter. Changkyun zooms in on the letter and manages to read a few pieces.

_I didn’t deserve this, even if you didn’t mean it, it still hurts_

_You promised me to be by my side, you broke every promise_

_Do you realize how much pain you caused me?_

_I wanted to die_

_I thought you loved me_

He feels a pang inside after reading, his heart throbbing faintly with each word. Tears gather around the corners of Changkyun’s eyes unknowingly, washing away the sadness the words brought. He wasn’t sure of the owner’s gender, but the letter made his heart ache. The photos exposed feelings on petals and light, delicate and sorrowful at the same time. The swirling emotions in his chest morph into something akin to pain and sympathy. The photos told the story of heartbreak of the owner, each flower narrating each feeling, or at least that’s what Changkyun thought.

(He wanted to know the full story _—if_ there was one _—_ and the person behind the flowers.)

A cheery ringtone abruptly breaks the silence, the melody echoing in the living room. Changkyun stiffens, the noise bringing him back from his daze. He wipes the tears away and gets up to answer the phone.

“Hello?” Changkyun grimaces at his own voice, it sounded dry.

“Changkyun? Hey, I just called to ask you if you could come pick me from work,” A hurried voice answers. He realizes it's his housemate's. “The manager gave me all these papers to review, they are really heavy, I can’t walk with them.” Changkyun can hear the pout on the voice, too.

“Sure, yeah,” Changkyun replies. “What time?”

“In half an hour? I’m out of work already, but I am organizing some files.”

“Okay, I’ll you pick up. See you later, Hoseok.”

“Thanks! See ya!”

Changkyun sits down on the floor, thousands of thoughts running through his mind. He shakes his head and gets up to prepare some instant noodles for lunch. Hoseok would have to deal with the simple meal, he was not in the mood to be stressing over food when someone’s entire heartbreak story was sitting on the coffee table. The story sinking deeper on the bottom of his heart.

Changkyun took one last glance at the camera across the room, wondering if he was brave enough to return it, a series of numbers stuck in his mind. 

 .

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Meaning of flowers in the order they appear (I screwed up the order but whatever):
> 
> Yellow carnation: disappointment, rejection  
> Purple hyacinth: sorrow, regret  
> Yellow rose: decrease of love, jealousy  
> Cyclamen: good-bye


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Changkyun tries. He really does.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whooo! I managed to write 2k for this chapter. It might seem slow, but I wanted to get the relationship between Hoseok and Changkyun fleshed out. 
> 
> Changkyun is actually pretty cool at a distance but when he opens his mouth that's a different story lol
> 
> (if you find inconsistencies in the future is because I'm writing this as I go, I have an outline but I change almost everything when I actually type, so, apologies in advance)

Today was wednesday which means he had both class and work and a lot of complaints. It was that awkward time of August where midday was too hot and evenings too cold. Changkyun was silently thanking all the gods that there was AC in his company’s office. He walks briskly to his own cubicle, ready to sip on his iced coffee and start work. Usually, Changkyun would be whining in silence about all the amount of work the editorial project manager gave him, but today was the only exception; he was glad he had a lot of work because it meant he could stay cool for a longer time.

He turns on his computer and laptop seconds later after he sits down and goes through his inbox. Being the assistant in a big editorial company means that he gets a lot of tasks assigned by his superiors, after six months though in the job he got used to it. His lack of social life helped him balance school and work.

“Hey,” Hoseok greets him, files tucked inside his arm. “The production manager wants to see the drafts the team is working on in the next staff meeting. Do you have them?”

“Yeah, let me e-mail them to her.”

“Cool,” Hoseok replies. He observes Changkyun for a second, “Did something happen yesterday?”

Changkyun raises his eyebrows, the memory of the camera barging into his mind. He bites his lip, contemplating if he should tell Hoseok about his discovery yet. He shakes his head and tugs his lips in a small smile.

“Yeah, I will tell you over dinner though.”

“Okay. That sounds cool. See you then.”

Changkyun returns to his computer and starts writing an e-mail to their team manager, then he looks at his phone sitting next to his hand. Before he left to get Hoseok yesterday, he saved the number in his phone in case he felt brave enough to text the owner of the camera. 

Scrolling down his inbox, he opens up an unread e-mail sent yesterday. The head of the production team was requesting ideas and assistants for the next pictorial project. It didn’t sound urgent as the project was still in its preliminary phase, but it was suggesting the team members to look for photographers and models in advance. He writes in his notes reminders about the upcoming project, scrambling at the last moment never did him good.

Speaking of photographers, Changkyun wonders if the owner of the camera was a photography student at his school. The pictures were nicely taken and they all had good composition as well storytelling, things editorials always look for. With that in mind, he has another reason to text the number from the post-it. Changkyun is just too intimidated to initiate any form of communication with strangers let alone the owner of the camera he picked up. The idea of talking with someone he doesn’t know and being judged by his words frightens him.

A notification of a text gets him out of his reverie, he unlocks it to reply. 

 **Hoseok:**  
hey, u wanna grab lunch?

Sure  
What time?

 **Hoseok:**  
hmm  
at 1?  
still at meeting :(

Okay  
Gotta head to school later today tho  
Just letting you know

 **Hoseok:**  
yeah i know  
can you grab some toothpate on your way home

 

Sure  
I’ll see you then

 **Hoseok:**  
lets get ramen!

….Of course….  
It’s hot as hell outside  
Why do you want to eat something hot on a HOT day?

 **Hoseok:**  
bc ramen is delicious!  
dont ruin my day  
:(

Why am I still friends with you  
If I die of a heat stroke  
You have to pay for my funeral

 

 

 **Hoseok:**  
chill  
u are so dramatic lol  
i’ll treat u dont worry

  
Whatever,  
See you in a bit  
Gotta edit all these drafts  
I’m so done

 **Hoseok:**  
hhhaha  
kk  
dont die  
u still have to drive me to eat

Yeah yeah

 

* * *

  

 

In the end, Changkyun _almost_ dies of a heat stroke, the hot steam of the broth was making him sweat buckets. Changkyun looks in disdain at his clammy hands, ready to choke Hoseok for choosing the worst meal in this weather. He steals a glance at the older who had his hands full not bothered at the sweat gathering around his forehead at all. How is he alive, he wonders.

Hoseok removes some dark strands from his forehead and looks at Changkyun in the eyes.

“What’s wrong?” He asks. “Why do you look like you are about to faint when you are eating the best food with your best friend.”

“Are you serious.”

Hoseok only laughs and then offers his friend his own glass of iced water. If Changkyun died right now, he’d not make it back to work. There are bills to pay after all.

After Changkyun chugs the water, he looks back at his bowl and throws the ice cubes from the glass on the broth. Not without a scandalized Hoseok semi-yelling at him.

“ _What_ are you doing?!”

“I am just trying to coo—”

“Stop. Just stop,” Hoseok raises his hands, “We can’t be friends anymore.”

Changkyun rolls his eyes, if he was dramatic then Hoseok was the king of drama. He kicks the older under the table and grabs his phone. He still checks it even though he knows he doesn’t have any messages.

“So,” Changkyun says after debating silently whether or not to ask. He looks up at Hoseok and then looks down at his lap before their eyes meet. He still feels uncomfortable when talking while making eye-contact.

“Something happened yesterday and I’m not sure what to do,” Hoseok stops eating and pays attention to Changkyun.

“I went to the storage closet to run inventory, but there was a camera that didn’t belong there. I picked it. I didn’t steal it though I just-” Hoseok puts his hand on top of Changkyun's momentarily to reassure him that he is not judging. He understands that Changkyun tends to overanalyze and be too self-conscious. One year of living with him made him realize that.

“Yeah, okay,” Changkyun takes a second to inhale. “There was something about this camera that really...caught my attention. I am not sure what.”

He looks back at Hoseok and sees that the other nods for him to continue.

“Then I checked the photos and they were all flowers in different settings. I looked them up. They meant something about regret and good-bye. In my opinion, I think the person was trying to tell a story of heartbreak. When I got to the last photo, I saw a letter torn apart. I only managed to read a few pieces, but it was really sad. Like, they wrote that they thought they loved them, but they were hurt in the end.”

Changkyun releases a sigh he didn’t know he was holding. The atmosphere was turning serious, and he was regretting ruining the mood with his story. Hoseok must have observed that because seconds later he is putting his hand on top of Changkyun again, lightly squeezing it. Changkyun appreciates the action and looks up, concern in his eyes.

“I am not sure what to do,” He pauses, his eyes looking away. “This person left their phone number in a photo. The right thing to do is return the camera, but I am scared of contacting them. Specially since I saw something really personal.”

“Do you want me to text them instead?” Hoseok asks, sincere. 

“Maybe—but there is also something I want to ask that person,” Changkyun says, uncertain, wriggling his fingers nervously, “I want that person to be part of our new pictorial.” He says with a little of confidence.

Hoseok is visibly surprised. He knows that Changkyun rarely asks people for favors let alone total strangers unless they are part of a project. Maybe letting Changkyun handle this on his own would do him good. He was a ball of nerves and awkwardness.

“Sure, I think that would be a good idea. If the photos are as good as you say, they could assist the photographers.”

“Great.”

“You just have to text them.”

“Right.”

Smiling to himself, Hoseok was really enthusiastic about the whole camera issue. Despite the sad background story Changkyun was getting excited even if he didn’t admit it. Knowing his friend for a long time, he knew that stepping out of the comfort zone was a challenge for Changkyun, and he hoped more than anything that Changkyun could try new things. 

 

* * *

 

 

The car was parked outside the grocery store near campus. Changkyun was sitting in his car, enjoying the cool breeze that only came when the sun was down. He looks down at his lap, his fingers fiddling with his phone in an attempt to calm his nerves. Texting was not a big deal, actually, he preferred communicating through text because it gave him enough time to think about a response. On the other hand, his brain freezes when he interacts in person with other people. On the way to the store, he ran hundreds of possible scenarios in his mind about the whole ordeal. Worst case scenario was that he would be seen as a camera thief. As long as he returns it there shouldn’t be a problem, he reasons.

It shouldn’t be that bad, right?

By the time he presses the send button, he already re-wrote the message 10 times. Changkyun has a bad habit of overthinking.

Hi! I’m Changkyun  
I found your camera in the storage closet of the Communications dept.  
Let me know where I can leave it, so you can pick it up.

Then he waits anxiously.

There is no gray bubble with three dots for a while, so he assumes that the receiver hasn’t checked their phone or is busy. He gets out of the car and heads to the automatic doors. The bright lights and smell of produce welcome him then he makes a beeline to the hygienic products aisle and gets the toothpaste. The sooner he gets out of there the less chances he meets someone he knows. He always becomes awkward when he meets people outside of school or work.

He walks to the cashier and puts the toothpaste down. Avoiding looking the cashier in the eyes.

“Hello! Did you find everything ok?” A really nice voice says. Changkyun turns to look at the cashier and stops, the first thing he sees is pink. Light pink hair. He inspects the other’s hair before he realizes he hasn’t said anything. The pink hair was such a shock, he didn’t register the question properly, so he answers what he supposed was asked.

“I’m fine thank you.”

“Excuse me?” The boy with the pink hair looks confused yet amused, his eyebrow raised.

“W-what did you ask me? Sorry, I didn’t hear.”

“Did you find everything ok?”

“A-ah, yes, yes, everything is fine,” Real smooth Changkyun, real smooth.

The other lets out a chuckle, finding the situation rather comical. His cheeks are so red he could impersonate a tomato right now. His plan originally was to get in and get out without making any social interaction. And he screwed up royally.

“Do you like it?”

“Huh?” Changkyun says intelligently.

The cashier points at his hair. He sends Changkyun a grin and starts scanning the toothpaste. Upon closer inspection, Changkyun notices that the cashier has plump, soft pink lips, a sharp jawline and glittering eyes. The pink hair gives him an air of tenderness, like cotton candy.

“Will that be all?” The cashier looks back at him expectantly.

Changkyun does not do well under pressure and blurts, “Cotton candy!” 

The other man opens his eyes at the sudden outburst and then laughs. Light and breathy.

Internally screaming, he tries to save his last ounce of dignity, “Sorry! Yes that would be all. I’m sorry.” He fails.

The cashier tells him the price, and waits for Changkyun to pay. While Changkyun looks into his wallet, he is secretly checking Changkyun out. He was not bad, his ashy brown hair ruffled and parted slightly looked good on him, and he had unique facial features. The rolled up sleeves of his button-up shirt made him look like he came from work. His awkwardness was endearing though.

Changkyun hands him his money and the cashier gives him back his change. Changkyun tries to smile.

“Thank you, have a nice day!”

Changkyun nods and then waves. Once he walks out of the doors he sprints to his car, the embarrassment killing him. He turns on the car and blasts his music to drown his shrieks. Changkyun is more than aware about his awkward self but today he really screwed up in front of a cute guy. So much for first impressions. It’s really not surprising that he doesn’t have any friends besides Hoseok. He is just too painfully awkward to make friends.

While he drives home, he misses the notification of a text.

. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Unexpected was not a good sign.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was really hard to come up with for some reason, I kept changing the direction and timeline, until I settled down for this.

Kihyun wakes up to sunrise filtering through his curtains against his eyelids and the light snoring of his roommate. He is the first one of the four people inhabiting the flat to rise, like usual, waking up early and starting the day as soon as the sun is up ingrained in his brain since an early age. His face scrunches when he smells his morning breath after yawning. The floor is cold when he steps on it. He turns around the room and sees his roommate sprawled on the bed, limbs dangerously nearing the floor. Kihyun walks closer to him and starts prodding his back trying to wake him up.

“Hyungwon, wake up.” No response.

Kihyun starts poking him more aggressively this time. “Hey, wake up. You have class in an hour,” He moves to the nightstand and grabs the spray bottle, he doesn’t hesitate to hit the nozzle, already used to this scene.

“What the fuck,” A head with messy light brown hair arises. Hyungwon’s eyes still closed. “Kihyun, leave me alone.”

“No, I don’t get paid to get your sorry ass to class.”

Hyungwon only goes back to sleep.

“Come on, get up and starts getting ready. I need to leave for work, too.” Kihyun puts his hands on his hips, irritated at having to do this almost everyday for free. Some people are just so ungrateful.

Kihyun ignores him for the time being, remembering that he has to get ready as well. Hyungwon will deal with his tardiness on his own, he decided. He pads to the bathroom and starts the shower, stopping to look himself in the mirror. His cheeks and eyes look sullen from the lack of sleep, working two jobs does its toll on his body and health. His eyes go to the reflection of his hair, the soft pink fading away after three months of dying it. Maybe it’s time to dye it another color. Kihyun likes changing his appearance often—consistency is just too boring. 

Kihyun is not a simple person, but he enjoys the simplicities of life once in awhile. He liked taking strolls around his neighborhood past midnight when the streets were sound asleep, warm lattes on cold days, wearing comfy sweaters when it rains outside, the smell of flowers, and small animals. He would say that the little details of life make his day, as cliche as it sounds. But there was always something he was craving for. Something exciting, a new experience, new people.

 

* * *

 

The morning Kihyun stepped into the grocery store he did not expect anything extraordinary to happen. He put on his black apron like usual, and started organizing the shelves of dry foods when his shift started. Kihyun does not mind doing the same things on a regular basis, consistency gives the illusion of stability after all. Except it’s simple and boring. There is no thrill or excitement in doing the same things over and over. The hours felt long and uneventful, his shift ending in a few hours, the only thing he was looking forward to.

Working at a store close to college brought customers who are in his age range, bleary eyed and without energy. He could categorize them in three different groups: impressionable naive freshmen wearing the school sweaters and lanyards, gossipy frat students who enjoyed partying more than studying, and the seniors who practically lived in the library and were dead inside. There were really few instances where some people will strike his attention.

Before his shift ends, someone comes in and walks directly to the hygienic products section without batting an eye to anything else. He guesses the person just came to run an errand and was in a hurry. When he sees said person approaching next, the other just puts the toothpaste he grabbed down on the belt, eyes downcast. Kihyun blinks, it looked like the other boy did not want to make eye contact for whatever reason. He looked a little bit distressed in his opinion. Kihyun scans the item, and gets to work. Thirty more minutes before his shift ends, the clock says.

“Hello! Did you find everything ok?” He greets.

When the other male looks up after hearing him, Kihyun observes the shocked expression the other is carrying. His eyes widened exponentially, and it looked like he forgot what he was doing. They were of similar height, looking at his face at eye level. A few seconds passed, and he still hasn’t said anything, body still. Kihyun sees the other’s eyes looking slightly above his.

Ah.

It was probably his pink hair that surprised the other boy. Not a lot of people spare him another glance as there were a lot of students with unusual dyed hair walking around. Particularly the art majors, they usually had green hair, tattoos and sketchbooks the size of their beds. When he tries to repeat the question, the other beats him to it.

“I’m fine thank you.” He did not expect _that_ voice come from that face. It was really low and deep, like velvet. This person was really something. The response too unexpected and funny, Kihyun masks the laugh that is about to escape with a confused expression. 

“Excuse me?”

The other apparently caught wind of what just happened, and gets embarrassed immediately. Pink starting to color his cheeks. So he tries to make conversation with him about his hair.

“Do you like it?”

“Huh?”

So much for a conversation.

He points at his hair and grins, trying to put the boy at ease. The other doesn’t say anything for a while and just keeps staring at him. It didn’t bother him that much, he was kind of used to people looking at his face. In his opinion, he was good looking. Kihyun shifts and scans the item, it doesn’t seem that the conversation will go anywhere. Better cut the conversation short and let the boy breathe, he looked too nervous.

“Will that be all?”

“Cotton candy!” The other blurts suddenly.

The response caught him off guard and a swell of light laughter fills his ribcage. The boy was really awkward in an endearing way. His pink hair made a big impact in the other, apparently. When he rings him up and says the price, he can’t help but check the other boy out. He was not bad looking, if anything, he had a mysterious air. Who would have thought that such a deep voice will match that face. Although his eyes definitely made him look older, his cheeks and thin frame didn’t make him look older than 20. But looks could be deceiving. Kihyun pictured the boy to be a sophomore, yet judging the way he was dressed it looked that he had an office job. Maybe he could ask him his age the next time he sees him.

Kihyun receives the money and gives him back his change, waving him goodbye and smiling politely. His eyes linger on the retreating figure until he sees him literally sprint out of the place. Probably out of embarrassment. This time he laughs out loud shamelessly, that boy was _really_ something.

He sighs and rest his hands on the counter. Fifteen minutes to go.

 

* * *

 

When his shifts ends, Sewoon comes to take over, and Kihyun retreats to the back to get his things from the locker. He unties his apron and folds it neatly to put it back inside, retrieving his backpack and jacket next. He bids his co-workers goodbye and walks out the store to head home. Autumn evenings were more comfortable to walk in, when the sun goes down so does the warm weather. Kihyun ruffles his hair and puts on his jacket to protect himself from the incoming chill air, his hands hide in his pockets. He pulls out his cellphone and checks his messages.

 **Unknown:**  
Hi! I’m Changkyun  
I found your camera in the storage closet of the Communications dept.  
Let me know where I can leave it, so you can pick it up.

After he reads it, everything stops.

Kihyun just stands there in the sidewalk, mouth agape and fingers shaking. His eyes burning holes at the word “camera” hoping it will make it disappear. He was not sure how to feel, his emotions already taking a hold of him involuntarily. His lungs stop working momentarily when a rush of flashbacks started flooding his mind.

He stops, closes his eyes and takes a deep breath.

Kihyun counts to 10 before he loses control of his emotions. He had been in this situation before; he had been reminded of the pain from his past, and he learnt to deal with it over time. It didn’t mean that the pain went away completely, but he developed ways to cope and calm down.

The camera he left behind helped him find closure. Leave behind the buried memories that haunted him. Because  _he_ gave it to Kihyun. And now it was coming back. He started to think why was this happening now. It’s only later that he remembers he left his phone number in the last photo. The person must have found the camera and looked through the photos. At the thought of someone going through the photos he took of the flowers and the letter, his heart starts beating faster. It’s becoming harder to breathe. Like he is drowning under a crashing wave.

He clenches his fists until it hurts. The pain brings him back to reality, and he starts counting to 10 again in between gulps of air. Kihyun sits down on the asphalt and looks up at the sky. There were few stars visible, light pollution hiding most of them. Stargazing always gave him a moment of respite.

Kihyun continues breathing until he feels better and his mind has cleared a little. He had managed over the years to not let his emotions cloud him, but the sudden text just brought unwanted feelings back. Like glass shattering out of nowhere.

Eventually he grabs his phone back and types a response.

_Keep it._

Kihyun regains his composure and calls someone.

“Hello?”

“Kihyun? Did something happen?”

“Can you pick me up?”

"I'll be right there."

Without further questions, he hangs up. While he waits, he rummages through his backpack and grabs a box of cigarettes and a lighter. It has been a while since he did it, but he needed it right now. He stands up and lights one up, the amber burning the nicotine turning it into ash. He puts the cigarette on his lips, inhales and then exhales a twirl of smoke dancing around him. The fire burning the cigarette was brighter than the stars hung on the sky today.

.


End file.
